Wayland Veterans Memorial Freedom Prize winner announced

Thursday

May 18, 2017 at 4:47 PMMay 18, 2017 at 7:04 PM

Brian Benson Daily News Staff @bbensonMWDN

WAYLAND - Wayland High School sophomore Nathan Zhao will receive the 12th annual Wayland Veterans Memorial Freedom Prize at the Memorial Day Ceremony on May 29 at Lakeview Cemetery, the Public Ceremonies Committee has announced.

"This prestigious award is given for the best essay on a topic related to freedom submitted by a Wayland High School student, and includes a $500 cash prize," the announcement says.

Zhao wrote about the constitutionality and consequences of voter ID laws.

He argued “state voter ID laws (are unconstitutional) and the challenge to them (has had and) will continue to have a profound impact on elections in the future,” the announcement says.

"Selection of the winning essay was not immediately obvious, as the judges carefully deliberated over essays on migration, the travel ban, fake news and more," the announcement says. "The strength and quality of the competition is a compliment to the efforts of the Social Studies department faculty including Kay Bassen, Sean Chase, David Gavron and Trish Halpin, and ably led by Kevin Delaney."

Wayland's Memorial Day Parade steps off at 11 a.m. at Wayland Middle School and will proceed along Rte. 27 and Rte. 30 to Lakeview Cemetery in Cochituate. The ceremony is at 11:30 a.m.

There will also be brief ceremonies at various cemeteries and memorials in the hours before the parade.

For more information, visit www.wayland.ma.us.

If you have any questions, contact Richard Turner, Chair of the Public Ceremonies Committee, at rickypt@verizon.net

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